Grace Cathedral

Greetings, 

I write this Congregation Update just after returning from a Grace Cathedral mission to the border. Eight folks were able to visit shelters and early learning centers in Tijuana and environs, including what is probably the largest current shelter (1,700 people) for asylum-seeking Central American, Indigenous Mexican, and Haitian families.

Although the media have largely forgotten the migrant crisis at our southern border, the conditions causing it and the thousands of souls in peril remain. The visit was led by CEO Lindsay Weissart and Glenda Linares of PILA Global, a UNESCO-supported nonprofit establishing early learning centers next to migrant shelters. They provide the highest-quality education and emotional support to some of the most traumatized young folks at the most vulnerable time in learning development.  One of the many things I love about PILA is that their classrooms, even in developing world environments, are set up just like they would be in a place like San Francisco. They believe education is a fundamental right — and the critical piece missing in support for refugee and asylum-seeking families. We’ll give folks who went on the Grace mission to the border a chance to share what we saw. Suffice it to say for now that it was a transformative visit for those who attended.

Special events coming in the next few weeks:

• The school year is kicking off for the Cathedral School for Boys. Please join us for the Choir Investiture at Evensong on Thursday, September 1, at 5:30 pm.

• Mark your calendar for Thursday, September 8. Honorary canons will be installed at Evensong.

• The annual Grace Cathedral Town Hall meeting will occur on Sunday, September 11, at 9:30 am, between the morning services. Dean Malcolm Clemens Young will share data from the recently completed congregational survey, amongst other things.

• After the 11 am Choral Eucharist on the same day, September 11, we will hold Congregation Sunday. Booths will be set up on the plaza to advertise and share all the different ministries at Grace Cathedral and various ways to get involved. A very big “thank you” to the Congregation Council for organizing and staffing this event.

In Christ,
Greg+

The Rev. Dr. Greg Kimura
Vice Dean of Grace Cathedral